The Seventh Snowfall
by Somewhat Sentient
Summary: Columbia had never had a problem with being a wolf. But when her seventh snowfall, foretold to be her ending, brings all sorts of emotions she hadn't felt before, how will she juggle her crisis and her boyfriend? And Sam and Grace are in the thick of it?
1. Chapter 1

**I decided to start writing this Shiver fanfic, because I was SUPER surprised at how my Shiver oneshot turned out. I am really thankful to everybody to reviewed that, because it gave me warmth and let me know that somebody was reading. I was also really glad that these people decided to read my other stories, because they took the chance to check out my stuff. So, a shout-out to Paranormalcy, werewolf235, BridgetV, and pretty-little-liar18! You guys inspired me!**

I must've been sweating all over the desk. Looking up at the clock, I let out an exasperated sigh. How many times had I looked up at that same, dull clock today? Too many times to count. I looked at our teacher, some boring old man with no sense of fashion. I'm not sure I even remembered his name. It didn't matter, anyways. It'd be all over in just a couple of days. Looking out the window, I see the frost lightly fringing the leaves, the window plastered with a couple of tiny snowflakes. My escape was almost ready.

A kid next to me was paying so much attention to the teacher it made me sick. Grace, I think was her name. She'd always been a favorite of Mr. Snooze over here, and she was also teacher's pet to about everybody in the school. She was some sort of overachiever, and the only time she checked her phone was after to school to call her parents or something. The only reason I'd noticed her, out of everyone in our class, was because she did something I did very often. Especially around this time of year.

She kept looking out the window.

It was like she was anticipating something, too. But I could tell it was a different anticipation. Mine seemed rushed, like I wanted it to happen, but she didn't want that. She wanted every second to stretch out into a minute, and every minute into an hour. Grace would stare at that clock, like there was no other way, and she'd basically will that minute hand not to move. It was extremely frustrating, considering I wanted that clock to move. I wanted it to speed up; I wanted the day to be over. And then after that, I wanted to skip the next few days. Anything to escape.

"Columbia. Columbia Dare, what are you doing?" I whipped my head back towards the grumpy teacher, his stomach begging to be let loose from the tight Oxford shirt he wore. Rolling my eyes, I clicked the gum in my mouth and tapped my desk. I wanted every inch of my annoyance to reach out to this teacher. Who was he to interrupt my daydreaming? The man flinched, but continued to give me the evil eye. Sighing, I began to answer. Of course, I stretched out every syllable just to stall.

"Nothing. I was just wondering how long it takes to give a lecture on…" I squint at the white board, my eyesight failing me again. For some reason, it was always on and off, like my vision was a light switch and someone just has to keep on flipping it up and down. My older brother used to do that whenever I was in the bathroom; scaring the crap out of me and making me run out with a towel barely hanging on my side while I swore like a trucker. "What is that? Alexander the Great?"

The teacher presses his fingers to his nose, adjusting his glasses and shaking his head. I flick the dirt out of my nails, already bored by the conversation. I don't have ADHD or something, it's just I don't want to sit still all day. I can, but I don't want to. I want to go outside, run around in the open air and stuff my face in a snow bank. I don't want to go to a mall and shop for clothing from Abercrombie and Fitch, and I don't want to spend the rest of my life studying like Grace. I want to be free.

"If you don't think you need to listen to my lecture, Miss Dare, please tell me why Alexander named every one of his cities after himself." Suppressing the urge to mutter a swear under my breath, I look the poor man in the eyes. He's chock full of fear, he just doesn't show it. The pig doesn't like people outsmarting him, and he's not used to being overthrown. To keep his authority, he'll pick on certain kids who are stupid or of a lower level. He purposely does it, to put us all in our places and let us know that could be us. I hate men like him.

"He didn't. One was named after his horse, and you made a mistake. Funny, because you're the one with the degree." A couple of kids chuckle nervously, before turning back around after being stared down by him. Scowling, I pull on the edge of my shirt underneath the desk. It isn't hot in here, but I'm sweating like an animal and my feet keep moving without my consent. I keep on blinking, not because I want to cry but because I can't see well anymore. Shaking my head thoroughly, I have to remind myself that it won't matter soon. They're just some beginning symptoms.

Grace is probably staring daggers at me, but when I look towards her, her head whips around. I look out the window again. Then I turn back towards the clock. I keep on switching back and forth, my brain hurting because of the monotone voice in the background. Pounding a fist against my leg, I try to think of soothing thoughts. Warmth. I think of lots and lots of warmth. It can't happen just yet, not in school. I need to be outside, far away from everybody else. My throat is dry, and each time I swallow I feel like I only make things worse. Warmth. Warmth.

Finally, the bell peals and I bolt out of my seat. Everybody turns to look at me, but my beef isn't with them. I'm just glad its last period, and I am all too eager to skip out on study hall and just sprint off towards the woods. The trees are basically chanting my name, and if it were the first time it'd happened I'd feel like I'd gone insane. But I knew all too well it was natural, or as natural as things got for me. Porky Pig was putting down his Expo marker, and while I was gathering my stuff together he pointed towards me. Making a "come hither" gesture, he adjusted his glasses. Again.

"I'm going to have you staying after school for detention, Miss Dare. And you can't skip out on this again, or the school will have to phone your parents." Ripping the slip out of his hands, I look down at the time. For two hours? I wouldn't last two hours in an air-conditioned school. And who was he trying to threaten? Dammit, I was Columbia Dare! Looking him up and down, I dismissed him as nothing but a nuisance. Grabbing the slip, I walked out of the classroom.

Looking both ways, I ran into the girl's bathroom. No girl bothers going in before study hall. They always wait until study hall and then during it go inside to meet up with their friends in other homerooms. And today was no different – in a weird way, one could say the bathroom was a ghost town. Climbing on top of the sink, I used a bobby pin and unlocked the window. I wasn't a lollipop like some other girls, but I was thin enough to squeeze through and out into the crisp snow.

Before anyone saw me, I sprinted off into the foliage.

* * *

><p>If somebody told you that I could turn into a wolf during wintertime, well, you'd laugh. You'd laugh so hard, you wouldn't notice the cold look that person was giving you for doubting. Then you'd look back, the laughter dying as you realized this person was serious. You'd go home that night, with the knowledge of my ability stuck in your head. Then, as you woke up the next morning, you'd receive a phone call from the person who told you's mother. She'd tell you that person had been viciously dragged into the woods and a search party had given up hope. She'd ask you to attend the funeral.<p>

And I'm not kidding around on this one. For once, I've decided to be pretty serious. This isn't a game. Things like this would happen if anyone knew about us, about the wolves of Mercy Falls. We couldn't let that happen, we didn't want to become more of a group of outsiders than we already were. It'd be a majority vote to kill off anybody knowing about our secret. Best case scenario in such a situation is that you'd have enough time to move away and pretend you never even heard about anything. Or, you could stay holed up in your house for the rest of your life like Emily Dickinson.

At least that'd buy you time before we found you.

If wolves could smile, I'd be grinning. That teacher was such an idiot. He'd have to phone my parents? As if. I didn't have any parents. One would say I was lucky that they'd abandoned me, and hadn't tried to kill me. I knew a wolf like that. He hadn't been traveling with our pack lately, keeping away from us. No one saw ear or tail of him; it was as if he hadn't been changing. The first time I'd met him, though not to his face, he smelled like humans. Like hot cocoa mix.

Shaking my head, I perk up my ears and try to find prey. We always thought in pictures, but it was more towards the middle of December. Right now I still felt pretty human, since it'd only been my third changing. Not a whole many people even got it past seven changes, some didn't even make it to seven. But it didn't worry me. I felt more alive as a wolf, without anybody pestering me or telling me to do something. So what if I failed school? I wasn't going to make it into college anyways. Some might say that's a waste of your life, but when you don't know how long you're going to be human, it's best to plan ahead.

Ducking behind a tree, I sniffed at the bark. It was soft bark, and there were valleys in it like someone had taken their hand to it and scraped out jagged paths on the tree's skin. There was the scent of squirrel hanging on to it, really faint so the squirrel was long gone. The scent wasn't all over the tree, so I knew it just happened to be using this tree as travel. Grunting, I bound further into the woods.

I don't remember much how I'd actually become a wolf. How I'd been able to morph back and forth. All I can remember is being very cold, and all the blood in my body seemed to be seeping out along with the warmth. If I knew how it'd happened, then maybe I would've cared more about vengeance or learning how to stay human. But I didn't. If I were still human, I'd still have my parents. The same parents who turned tail and fled when they realized their daughter was an animal. A monster.

So, if anything, I should've probably thanked the person who did this to me. It hurts like Hell to morph into a wolf, but it subsides. Your empathy and other feelings begin to ebb away, replaced with the instinct that all wolves are born with. And for a couple of days after you morph back into a human, you still feel like the entire world is your bathroom. But it's worth it, worth it just so that I could experience nature's beauty. In two different worlds. When my years run out, when I begin to lose humanity, then I'll worry.

But for now, I'm free.

Skidding to a halt, I feel snow slide up against my paws. Unlike days ago, when I felt uncomfortable because of all the sweat I'd pour onto a surface, it felt nice to let out my sweat. It was just another excuse to go take a dip in the falls, live life the feral way. Pictures are flooding my head, another wolf trying to communicate with me. In one picture I catch a glimpse of a brown wolf with murky green eyes. I send back pictures to him, letting him know where I am. The sound of thicket pushing away for a single creature surrounds me, and soon the wolf comes into the clearing.

His tongue is lolling out, and there are some bloody pieces of fur sticking out, but I recognize him immediately. We touch noses lightly, and he kicks some kill towards me. I feel like a slob as I stick my face into the rabbit, pulling away it's bones and tearing apart its soft flesh. Licking my nose, I suck the marrow off of one bone as he sends some more pictures towards me. Burying the remains, I focus on his images. They all come out as words, words we both remember from reading in the same book. We had to read them over and over then, so then we would remember them and their meanings.

_I. Love. You._ I rub my nose into his flank, trying to lick out the blood. Even though humans would get more intimate after something like kissing, we're not humans. The best we can do is rub noses, brush flanks, and then of course mate. But I wasn't ready to mate. I'd tried to tell Jamie many times that I couldn't stand the idea of mating and having a half-human half-animal child. If he really loved me, then he'd wait until our years were up. At least, until mine were up. Jamie was already gone.

When I first found out I wouldn't be able to see Jamie's human face again, I cried over and over. I would still see him as a wolf, but even if I did we were still in separate worlds for half a year. I needed my years to go out, for me to finally become full-wolf. I didn't care about having kids, or getting a house. I just wanted to be with Jamie. Because he was full-throttle feral now, mating was a big topic in our 'conversations'. He wanted to wait, but he had a hard time doing that. He was a male wolf now, and if he didn't continue his generation he'd have no significance in life.

It was hard getting him out of his moods. He wanted to mate, but I wasn't ready. I was only fifteen, for God's sake! That sort of stuff happened in Degrassi, or The Secret Life of an American Teenager. All I wanted to love him, but when your boyfriend instinctually becomes lustful, you can't really stop him. Especially if he's a wolf all year round, and sometimes you're a feeble little human. We both turn westbound, looking at the trees and everything even if it's not moving. Because something did move.

A flash of blonde hair comes through the dark green trees, and Jamie snarls. I step in front of him, my head dizzy as I try to fight natural instinct. I know that hair. Catching the scent of the moving object, I wince. Hot cocoa mix? Jamie is almost ready to tear through the trees, but I send him a warning. _Don't. Do. It._ The words are hard to find in my memory, but Jamie gets it well enough. Looking past the brown and green, I see the blonde hair again. Perking my ears, I see a human step out of the greenery and into the clearing. She's not scared at all to see us. Tilting my head, I fumble towards her. Looking up into her eyes, I suppress a startled growl.

_Grace_?

**Okay, so that's the end of this introduction thingie. I guess you could say the story doesn't center around Grace and Sam, because I wanted to start fresh. I'm going to say it happens after the Shiver arc but doesn't continue into Linger. Instead it's completely different, saying that Sam was cured once and for all. Also, there won't be any lemons in here or anything. It's just going to be slight sexual references. Otherwise I'd have to change this to M and I don't really want to write M rated stuff. I mean, I'm sick but I don't feel comfortable with that stuff. Besides the point. I hope you like it, the plot hasn't really developed quite yet and things are a bit vague. But this story will own up to it's short description!**

**-Somewhat Sentient  
><strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**It's not so exciting just yet, I suppose. I don't know if I'm going to drop this. I wanted to give it a go and try out a Shiver fanfiction, but I'm having problems keeping up with my Bo Peep fanfic and I really want to continue this one. So, this is just a quick filler chapter so then I can get started on a chapter for another fanfiction.  
><strong>

I didn't care much for Grace, but it was her scent which caught me off guard. She had the smell of hot cocoa mix, the same scent I'd caught off of that one wolf. The one who hadn't been with us for so long. His yellow eyes, bright as the moon even in the dark, were no longer blinking with us, staring at us to send us images of prey and blood. He'd been gone for so long, and no one knew where he'd been. And then all of a sudden, with some sort of hidden sixth sense, I knew he'd been cured. That Grace was connected to him. And that if she didn't leave now, she'd be torn to pieces by the five other wolves in our pack.

I instinctually attempted to send her a message, and then turned my head sharply to knock some sense into myself. What was I thinking? Grace couldn't receive images like the wolves. Even during my human periods, I was only able to see a faint glimpse of each image, nothing strong reaching me. As angst clouded my judgment, I looked at Jamie and tried to tell him to back off. That I'd take care of her personally. Grunting, he turned tail and ran off towards the bushes to tell the other wolves to mind their own business. Grace was still staring at me, like she knew me. _Don't. Worry._

I pawed at the ground, confusion replacing the angst and settling in. Whipping my head back and forth, I felt the wind sneak into the tufts of fur which divided as I moved. Who had sent that? Looking back at Grace, I felt a snarl begin to peek out of my mouth. Teeth bared, I tried to change the look of intimidation into a half-hearted smile. Not much I could do, considering wolves didn't freaking smile. _That. Was. You._

Grace nodded, and for once I was actually shocked. Being a wolf was something that kind of caught me off guard, but I was fine now. I didn't care. But, then Grace came over and broke the news to me. She knew. And I know as well as anyone else that Grace is not one of us. She's purely human, feeble and fleshy. Walking towards her, I feel the breath in my mouth puff out in hisses and my eyes narrow. I have to shake off the instinct before I accidentally hurt her. Feeble and fleshy. So easy to kill. Just one bite, drag her off.

It feels like the wolf is trying to take over, harsher than it had before.

"Grace?" A black haired boy dashes out from the growth behind her, and I catch a glimpse of something which scares me. Yellow eyes. Just like him. So he was cured, wasn't he? And he knew Grace, did he? I swallow violently, as if afraid the voice I can't use will crack. _Him. You._ This time the boy looks at me, studying me for a second. Catching a look of my eyes, he turns to face Grace. She's almost shaking. _You. Are._ Grace takes in a large breath, her last words cut off as she latches onto Sam's shoulder. As if signaling, she nods her head slightly and Sam whistles.

Before I know it, there are five hunters cornering me, with their grins so smug you'd think they were teenagers skipping out on an annoying teacher.

Okay, wrong example.


	3. Chapter 3

**I had decided since I was going to be restarting this fanfiction after a long time of putting it off, I might as well start off with a longer chapter. So this is the newest chapter! Love it? Like it? Hate it? I love flames. Let me know.**

I could feel the dizziness escaping my system while the truck rocked back and forth, trying to lull me back to sleep after I'd just woken up. Growling weakly, I rolled over onto my side and sighed. All that kept flashing through my head were images of the disaster which started with Grace and the betrayer, the one wolf I could remember commanding attention silently. Or was it just me who saw this authority, who felt obliged to follow him wherever he went? It was all too clear; the darts swishing by without hesitation, sticking into sides of different wolves and their battle cries sounding into the evening. We didn't even stand a chance. We were all taken down, the prosperity of the forest was replaced by the sleeping bodies of many wolves, trees turned away to form paths for men carrying the guns. I was probably one of the last to fall, one of the last to keep their eyes open long enough to see the faces of our pursuers.

There wasn't an ounce of humanity in them.

But who was I to speak of humanity? I was a freaking wolf-human hybrid, stalking rabbits one second and doing Calculus homework and college applications the next. Was I really somebody to judge humanity? Snickering, I let my head rest on the shaking floor and listening to the tumbling of the tires and scraping of the rocks. There were whispers being exchanged in the driver's seat and shotgun, light and airy so that the words were hard to catch onto even with my sense of hearing. These two people definitely knew how to deal with wolves who could understand English and use it against them. Slinking over towards the end of the trunk, I pawed gently at the bars in front of me. Whining instinctually, I sniffed the polluted air, gas and tobacco smoke unmistakeable while I took hesitant whiffs. There was another smell, something easy to pick up. Lifting my head higher, trying to avoid the back-view mirror, I saw that all too familiar flash of spun gold hair.

And went absolutely crazy with anger.

The truck shook even more as I ran around in the free space, glad to not be tucked away in a cage and have been given real estate for disruption. I bounced off of the walls, scratched against whatever I could. Old couch cushions in the back were immediately turned into shreds, whatever glass I could find was soon in shards, and my fur was leaving patches all over the place. The air conditioner picked up all the little pieces, funneling them in and out so then Grace and her little friend in front could get blown in the face with what I was doing. Orange flashed in my mind, blinding enough to make me reel back. Shivering, I tried to find the sender. My breath kept getting faster. Step. Beat. Shake. Another pulse of color, this time a soothing blue to blast me into peace. My mind was being attacked by an ally, and I felt a transformation coming on. _Shit._ How could I have forgotten about the pariah in shotgun?

Spasming on the floor, I felt tears leak out of my eyes. _Shit. Again. _Crying. How could...color, make me cry? I staggered toward the double doors at the front of the trunk, locked on the outside with a wooden block. Slamming against it, I felt panic clouding my ideals yet again. I was a wolf, wasn't I? Rudimentary brain levels, things such as instinct and hunger, pain and panic, these were the only natural emotions for me. Sewing together my fury and frantic behaviour, I let myelf slam into the doors again. Again. There was the sound of a splinter, although it seemed like hairline crack more than anything. Grace said something I didn't catch, her friend responding anxiously, with a hint of exhaustion. A splash of purple. He grunted, Grace patting him on the back while trying to focus on the road and task at hand. I was tiring him, these images were tiring him. Unfortunately, they were also making me a little more shaky than I'd like to be. Taking one last final breath, I braced myself for another impact against the trunk's doors.

"Wait!" Despite my determination to leave the stupid vehicle and go back to the woods, where I was safe from society and the weird marvels it held. I didn't want that. I wanted to be a wolf, stay with Jamie and never leave him. That was the only choice I had...no, that was the only choice I chose to have. Why would I ever go back to a place where being unsure was looked down upon, where not wearing makeup was ugliness, and where self-expression was disgusting? I loved the life I had, with the wolves of Mercy Falls. They were all I needed.

So why did I stop?  
>"Please...Columbia, don't leave." After hearing my name, I snarled. I'm not saure at that point I even remembered that was my name, and all I could tell was that it was something pertaining to me, something I didn't like. "We...Sam, he needs you. Our cure..." she choked on her words, the salty smell of tears stinging my nose and she began crying. Blinking, I tried to get rid of the remains of my own bawling session, all the while trying to convince myself that this was some stupid facade. Grace didn't need my help. She just captured me for some reason, for some misery. Was it payback for not paying attention during school? Maybe when she'd found out I was a freak, she decided it was too creepy. Maybe she wanted to kill me. But then why let this Sam live? Wasn't he the same as me? It was all really messing with my head.<p>

Without realizing it, I'd turned my head as if trying to comfort Grace. To tell her I was still here, and to stop freaking crying. Because, yeah, that was annoying me intensely, but I was going to feel guilty if she didn't quit it. Crying out, I felt the sudden transformation come upon me. _Damn...those feelings musta triggered it...or was it that constant color grenade thing Sam launched at me?_ Grace put both her hands back on the wheel, taking a sharp turn and swerving to avoid a tree while attempting to get off the road. Sam braced himself using the dashboard. I was pushed roughly against the doors, falling out as the wooden block broke and forced open the trunk. Whining while I tumbled into the snow, I heard the door click while my spasm continued. Grace knelt beside me, telling Sam to stay away since when I'd transformed I'd be stark naked. So she knew what was happening, too. Must've seen Sam do it. An image flashed in my mind. I had to shake my head so then I wouldn't spend the rest of the day thinking of a naked guy next to Grace. Just a bad mental image.

Clawing at the snow, I let my breath come out in exasperated gasps. I shuddered and felt a sudden numbness as I was forced back into human form. Grace wrapped her long cardigan on me, grabbing some shorts from the glove box which were cargo and in a men's size. I could imagine her digging through a rack in JC Penny's, looking for something just in case Sam transformed and needed spare clothes. She wouldn't need a shirt, of course. Grace might not look it, but she might as well take every chance God gives her to see that boy half-naked. Pulling myself together, I climbed back into the car. There was a moment of silence, and Grace looked at me with the rear-view mirror while getting everything started up. "I could drop you off at the woods..." She had a look of pure guilt on her face, as if asking for my forgiveness. Because I'd transformed? Because I'd been put through so much? It'd all happened before, but I didn't need to go back to the woods. Holding up my hand, I sighed heavily.

"What did you need me for again?" Grace smiled gently, and I sit back to relax.

Why did I have to be such a good person?


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all the nice comments! It was really motivating. Okay, so here's the new chapter.**

I couldn't figure out exactly why I had allowed Grace to take me to her house. In fact, I don't exactly remember anymore how I got into the situation. All I remember was putting on clothes which weren't mine and feeling a whole lot more freed in baggy pants. Obviously her parents were still away from home, and Sam seemed to be more at ease with them gone. I could see why. He was still was part wolf, no matter how much he denied it. Grace probably hadn't even told her parents yet. The way their shoulders just fell and a sigh flowed out her mouth as they realized there would be no explanation required, it was pretty obvious.

I stretched with my arms up high, shoulders rolling back and neck letting out a loud crack. With an exaggerated yawn, I followed Sam and Grace to the stairs, taking one step at a time and holding onto the railing in case my legs gave out. A lot of times a wave of weakness overcame me moments after transformation, but luckily I had been treated to a bit of coffee on the way to Grace's house. Nothing brought spirit back to your body like freshly brewed coffee with whip cream from Dolly's Brews. Slinking into a room, I sat comfortably on the bed and let out another sigh. Seems I had been sighing a lot lately. Sam didn't look the least bit fidgety in what I supposed was Grace's room. I sniffed the covers. There was no evidence, but I was sure they'd been at _it_ already.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Grace took Sam's hand and began speaking to me, in a whisper even though no one else was there. "How many snowfalls have you had Columbia?". Snowfalls? I thought about it for a bit. She must've meant transformations. What a weird way to say it, _snowfalls_. I put my hands in front of me, counting off on my fingers. The first time, the time Jamie and I figured out each other's secrets, and this time along with a few others. I put up five fingers and reached out towards a bitten muffin on the nightstand. After a thorough sniff I found it was stale and Grace's, but I was too hungry to care. Stuffing it in my mouth, I listened half-heartedly to whatever she was saying. "And we were told there was a cure. Except, there was a condition to the cure. But it would be final. No maybes, no wondering when it would wear off."

"So what is the catch exactly?"

"Blood."

"You do realize we're not vampires, right?" I bared my teeth and laughed at my joke, feeling a little nervous when I saw their serious faces. My jokes never fell flat, so since this was a first I lost all desire to continue laughing and began whispering as well. I also was hoping for another muffin to pop out of nowhere, because it was a delicious muffin. "Okay, I get it. No more jokes or interruptions." Grace and Sam exchanged a quick look and I tried to forget about how much my joke really backfired. I did not know when not to crack a joke, did I? Smacking my self in my head, I motioned for the two to continue already.

"I...we were told that the blood of a half was supposed to be spilled on it's seventh snowfall. We were also told this would be it's _last _snowfall." I wanted to ask who this unlucky person was, but I already knew the answers to all my questions. I wanted to bolt out of the room and run outside. Blood from a half, somebody who had not yet been completely wolf and was in the between, on their seventh transformation. How would that be a cure? Unless they planned to drink their...my blood, but that wasn't natural. And again, we weren't vampires. Then again, I did have another question, but I thought I knew the answer. So just to be safe, I spoke up.

"You mean, all my blood? As in I am going to be killed?"

For once Sam answered my question instead of Grace. When he opened his mouth, Grace gave him a scared glance, but let him go on. "Yes, you will be killed. But you don't realize, do you? Your last snowfall. You will die anyways." I stumbled backward, grasping at the blankets and finally keeping myself upright after a few minutes. It was a stupid reaction, but what he said was a bit much. I was finding out I was going to die, possibly in the next year. Two more transformations, then poof! No more Columbia Dare. Wonderful, it was just beautiful. No, actually it wasn't. It was scary and completely messed up!

"But, I thought you used snowfall as another word for changing. You do, don't you?" Sam shook his head warily. I shook my head, pinched my arm, closed my eyes and opened them again but everyone was still there. I was still going to die. Gulping, I counted to ten before speaking again as if that would change anything. "So you expect me to just say that you can kill me then? You think I'd agree to this, well, that's unlikely isn't it!". Grace let a single tear slip down her cheek and then reached for my hand. I brushed her away. What was this? They expected me to say yes to something like this? That might as well be suicide. I wouldn't consent to my own murder.

"Please, Columbia you have to understand, we've been waiting so long for a cure. We...I just, I really need this cure. For so many reasons."

"And _you_ need to understand I don't donate my life so then somebody's summer romance can become a full-time gig." I got off the bed, and walked toward the door. Sam was already there waiting for me, probably having stationed himself at the knob while I was talking to Grace. I shouldn't have even given the girl my two cents. All she wanted me for was a love-driven martyr, and I don't do that unfortunately. She had gone into my forest, had hunters shoot everybody down with tranqs, all for the sake of asking me to give her the honor of killing me. What sane person would do that? I shouldn't have changed back into a human. That way I could've skipped the sob story and just ripped out her eyes. I sniffed. A cure, huh? I knew it was too good to be true.

"I think before we let you leave I should tell you other people know of this cure, people not as polite as us." Even though his voice was steady, Sam seemed perplexed, as if he didn't quite grasp the urgency in Grace's voice or the reason why she was asking me something so desperate. But he loved her, so that was enough for him. An image of Jamie popped into his head, but it was only him as a wolf. Why couldn't I remember him as a human? Shaking my head, I grinned at the golden-eyed man, and put my hand on his chest.

"Great. Then I'll be expecting company."


	5. Chapter 5

**Here is a nice little filler I cooked up while working on another paragraph. I did the same with the other story I'm working on. It's a little poem, and if you don't understand or don't like it, let me know. It also contains a hint on Columbia's life, since I didn't really add anything about it in previous posts. I accept constructive criticism as long as there are no swears. Thanks for reading, and sorry for how much I'm postponing the actual chapter.**

Three Red Threads

Two star crossed lovers

One prisoner's daughter

And three red threads tying them together

Blood spilled onto all of their hands

And a betrayer hidden in the stands

Then Calypso smiled down at her four pawns

Stumbling and crying in her open palms

Confused and hurt, each finally broken

Release or keep? Be it a curse or a token?

Whichever would make her game more interesting

Be the end all their deaths, or leaving one lonely

Calypso who chooses their fate, and fate who had chosen them

To go through Hell and come back again


End file.
